Date night this weekend involved seeing "Super 8!" I love science fiction and we were huge fans of Lost, so I was really excited when the previews for this move came out and I saw that Spielberg and Abrams were involved. I also thought it was so clever that these directors featured the Super 8 technology since this is what they used to practice on. Introduced in the 1960s, Super 8 cameras were inexpensive, lightweight, and easy to use which allowed many families to document important life events. The film had to be developed in order to be played using a projector. It is hard to imagine that it would take considerable time to develop, but one hour had not been created yet!
The movie itself is about kids shooting a horror film in the late 1970s. While in the middle of shooting, they stumble upon a government cover up of an alien from outer space. The rest is what ensues as the alien runs rampant throughout their town. At the end of the movie you get the chance to see the kids' Super 8 movie, so be sure to stay until the very very end!
Since seeing the movie, I have done a little more research about Super 8 technology on the web. The
Smithsonian Collections Blog highlights how the Super 8 has been a valuable tool for collecting and documenting scientific data. The
Kodak website features wedding cinematographers that love to use this technology to document their client's special days in vintage fashion.
Super 8 is a cross between “E.T.” and “Goonies". Sadly, I was not as entranced by it as I wanted to be. It may be that I am getting old, but some of the language and situations seemed unnecessary for a fun family movie. All in all, the hubbs and I were definitely entertained and now I find myself inspired to get a Super 8 camera in order to document our important family moments! Do you have one?
